Timberwolves fans share their thoughts on the Wolves postseason performances and upcoming predictions.
In our latest edition of Canis Pulsus, we had 65 voters chime in with their grades, predictions, and thoughts. The Minnesota Timberwolves are halfway towards their postseason road to the first Larry O’Brien trophy in franchise history, so let’s review the fanbase’s temperature with Canis Pulsus Vol. 34 – WCF Postseason Predictions & Reactions.
(Note: Canis Pulsus Vol. 34 data was collected through 5/21)
Player Grades
(Min. 50 minutes played)
Rudy Gobert
A (32.6%)
Season grade: A
Rudy missed one of the 11 postseason games due to the birth of his child. In those 10 games, Gobert is averaging 12.2 points (.609 FG%), 10.9 rebounds, and 2.1 stocks with a plus/minus of +16.4 per 100 possessions. That’s first on the team. All of his naysayers are stuck with the KevinHartFace.gif. 78.4% gave Rudy an A-level grade.
Full voting results:
Karl-Anthony Towns
A (41.5%)
Season grade: B+
KAT receiving an A grade brings so much joy to my heart. After nine years of “But he’s not a playoff performer,” he’s had 10 excellent games so far. With per game averages of 18.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on blistering .517/.440/.833 splits while offering top tier defense on Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokić, what more can you say?
Full voting results:
Mike Conley Jr.
B+ (30.8%)
Season grade: A-
One could say Mike hasn’t been his usual self in the postseason so far. He’s made some mistakes and you could visually see him pressing a little too much at times. That said, can you really complain about your starting point guard averaging 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.5 assists with just 1.5 turnovers per game? Sure, Bite Bite isn’t knocking down 44.2% of his threes like he was in the regular season, but a 41.2% playoff mark is still amazing and good for second highest on the team.
Full voting results:
Anthony Edwards
A (44.6%)
Season grade: A-
The Michael Jordan comparisons are now getting a bit played. The real discussion should shift towards whether or not Ant will end up better than the greatest player to have ever done it. 28.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.3 stocks on 30% usage is pretty insane. As he said to the camera during the game seven victory over Denver, there’s more to the game than just scoring. Ant’s flexibility and leadership have been the most impressive part of the Wolves postseason run so far.
Full voting results:
Naz Reid
B+ (30.8%)
Season grade: A
The Sixth Man of the Year has had an up-and-down playoff run so far. After sitting out the 2023 playoffs due to his wrist injury, Naz is still looking to find the consistency that he had throughout the regular season. He has still had various stretches in both rounds one and two where he flexed his value, be it timely buckets or lockdown post defense.
Full voting results:
Monte Morris
C (22.6%)
Season grade: B
Monte has played just 66 minutes in the playoffs. When Mike Conley was out due to his leg issue, Morris filled in admirably in spot minutes. However, he’s struggled to hit from perimeter (7.1%) on limited attempts, so that may be why his name hasn’t been called as much. There’s still time though, as his perimeter defense and IQ could be useful in the next round.
Full voting results:
Kyle Anderson
C (22.2%)
Season grade: B
It pains me to say this, but Slow Mo has been nearly unplayable in the playoffs so far. It was very evident in the second round, where he had terrible on/off numbers. It feels as though he’s in his own head, as he’s missing his patented bunnies and floaters in the paint while getting blown by on defense. I still believe he’s a smart enough player to turn things around.
Full voting results:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
B+ (32.3%)
Season grade: A-
NAW has been invaluable at certain points in the playoffs. His perimeter shooting has run both hot and cold throughout each series, but his defensive energy has been consistent. One of the most memorable moments of the playoffs was game two versus Denver, when he was having a blast hounding his fellow countryman, Jamal Murray, up and down the court.
Full voting results:
Jaden McDaniels
A- (43.8%)
Season grade: B
The NBA All-Defensive Second Teamer’s per game averages of 12.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.2 stocks might not impress you, but he was absolutely one of the main reasons Minnesota is still in the hunt. In the final two elimination games against the Nuggets, Jaden went off for 44 points while canning six of nine treys. I’m just glad he has finally gotten the official honor of landing on one of the All-Defensive teams. The first of many to come.
Full voting results:
The MVP of the round 1 series against the Suns was…
Anthony Edwards (87.7%)
The most memorable moments from the first round will be when Ant went head-to-head with his childhood idol and came out on top. The isolation scoring. The emphatic dunk to close out the series. Another storyline was him snatching the “Best Shooting Guard in the NBA” title away from Devin Booker. Easy dub.
Full voting results:
The MVP of the round 2 series against the Nuggets was…
Karl-Anthony Towns (60.0%)
KAT received his flowers and then some after slowing down the three-time MVP just enough while still shouldering the load on offense for periods of time. His game seven performance may not receive the same type of fanfare and attention as Ant or KG’s heroics, but he absolutely deserves credit for his dominance on both ends of the court.
Full voting results:
The MVP of the WCF series against the Mavericks will be…
Anthony Edwards (65.6%)
Ant is the easy answer here. In order for the Wolves to easily coast through the Western Conference Finals, he will likely have to outshine both Luka and Kyrie. It’s going to primarily be a guard/wing-focused series, so all eyes will be on the young 22-year-old.
Full voting results:
What will be the result of the WCF Dallas Mavericks matchup?
Wolves in 6 (53.1%)
A whopping 93.7% of you believe the Wolves will win in five or six games. Only 3.2% of voters felt the Mavericks will win the series. The group vote has yet to get a prediction wrong yet, so let’s see how this one pans out.
Full voting results:
The key for the Timberwolves to defeat the Mavericks is…
The defense
Almost every answer had to do with the defense. Limiting Luka. Limiting Kyrie. Limiting their role players. Limiting offensive rebounds. The fact that so many felt that the secret to victory is the thing that the Wolves are best at may be why so many voters feel this series is heavily in favor of Minnesota.
One of my favorite answers was about not buying into the media hype and underestimating a dangerous Dallas team.
My hot take from the Wolves-Mavericks series is…
Luka Dončić will struggle against the defense and lose his cool
The most common answer for this fill-in-the-blank question was that Luka would have a hard against the Timberwolves defense. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a hot take, but limiting one of the most dominant heliocentric offensive players in the league would still be quite the feat. Many voters included Luka intentionally fouling out or getting tossed out of frustration.
My personal answer was “Kyle Anderson will make a 3.” Flaming hot one.
What do you consider a successful Timberwolves playoff run?
It’s already a success (55.4%)
Previous answer: Competitive 2nd round series (38%)
Over half the voters feel that this season has already been a success. Hard to argue against that, though we are now playing with house money. 9.2% more of voters just want a competitive series now, while 12.3% won’t be satisfied until we win a championship. Either way, we already eclipsed the previous goal.
Full voting results:
With the second round of the playoffs over, my feelings on the direction of the Timberwolves are…
Very optimistic (92.3%)
Quarter 1: Very optimistic (89%)
Semester 1: Very optimistic (88%)
Quarter 3: Very optimistic (61%)
Semester 2: Slightly optimistic (43%)
We have officially eclipsed the previous most optimistic point of the season! Earning a ticket to the Western Conference Finals would do it. The dream of getting to 100% “Very optimistic” continues!
Full voting results: